Recent Submissions

States are increasingly conferring power upon private actors to perform traditionally public services. In New Zealand, this extends to private actors wielding state coercive power. This paper explores the accountability ...

Immigration law is a direct product of the State’s sovereign right to control its borders. One way this powerful right has manifested is in the use of “absolute discretion” in the Immigration Act 2009. “Absolute discretion” ...

This paper analyses the value of question time in New Zealand as a parliamentary accountability mechanism. It uses Professor Mark Bovens’ definition of accountability as a social relation to develop a bespoke, criteria-based ...

Issues central to a group identity, or nomos, are very significant to those who hold them. When those issues clash in courts, judges can be faced with very difficult and controversial decisions. When they have the authority ...

Referenda have been strongly criticised in recent years. Western liberal democracies are fixated on representative democracy, with elections as the pinnacle of democratic participation. However, political apathy and voter ...